


Trust

by ardentaislinn



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 19:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3180335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardentaislinn/pseuds/ardentaislinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel is surprised to find Peggy Carter on his doorstep. Even more so when she asks for his help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

She appeared on his doorstep like an avenging angel.

Clothes torn, face bloodied, and her expression more fierce than he’d ever seen it, Peggy Carter looked like she’d just taken out half the scumbags in the city and was gearing up for a round two.

“Agent Sousa,” she began, her clipped English accent unfailing polite even as she swayed with exhaustion. “I’m rather afraid I need your help.”

Daniel blinked once, and then again for good measure, but she didn’t disappear. Peggy Carter really was on his doorstep, asking for his help. So many questions burst into his mind at once that he ignored them all and stepped aside, allowing Peggy entrance into his home. She brushed past him into the small living area. He’d never before been so embarrassed by his cramped bachelor’s quarters, though he was infinitely grateful that his soldier’s training meant he always kept things unfailingly neat.

Peggy collapsed into an armchair, managing to look perfectly at home despite the circumstances. 

“Can I...get you anything?” he asked hesitantly. He still stood awkwardly by the door, as Peggy had taken the only seat. And didn’t  that just say a whole lot about his social life.

“Do you have tea?” her voice was hopeful.

He shook his head regretfully. “Just coffee.” She made a face in reply.

Peggy shifted slightly in the chair and groaned, her hand coming up to grasp her side.

“Are you alright?” he asked, careful to balance respect and concern. No matter that a part of him may wish he could take care of her, the rest of him was happy to know he didn’t actually have to. Which made her being here all the stranger.

“Just a slight bruise, I’m sure,” she replied with a tight smile.

“You don’t have to-” he began, as always frustrated by her reticence. But he stopped himself. Her secrets were her own. He wasn’t stupid, he knew the signs. Something was happening with her. And while he may wish she would trust him with whatever it was, he wouldn’t push. He’d earn her trust the hard way, or not at all.

“Why are you here, Carter?” he asked instead. “And how did you know where I live?”

Peggy gave him a look that was just short of her openly rolling her eyes. “I’m an SSR agent, Sousa. I know a lot of things.”

He felt heat rise to his cheeks but ignored it. “Why come to me?”

She hesitated, giving him a long, searching look. “I needed someone I could trust,” she said eventually. Daniel felt her words travel through him, lifting a weight from his shoulders that he hadn’t known was there.

“A friend of mine has been kidnapped,” she continued.

“And you can’t go through the official channels with this?” he asked in reply, a bad feeling beginning to creep over him.

She smiled ruefully. “Sadly, no.”

“Exactly who is this friend?”

She screwed up her face in a way that usually made him smile. “Edwin Jarvis,” she muttered under her breath, so quiet he could barely hear.

At her words, he unconsciously took a few steps towards her as the puzzle pieces began to slot together in his mind. “ What? Peggy, please don’t tell me that all this time you’ve been working for Howard Stark?”

“He’s not a traitor,” she said defiantly. “He was set up, and I’m clearing his name.”

Daniel ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “This is a very dangerous game you are playing for a man of such questionable morals.”

Peggy’s jaw was set. “He may not be perfect, but he’s my friend. He doesn’t deserve to be accused of something he didn’t do.”

They glared at each other for a long moment, until Peggy finally relented with a sigh. “I’ll show you the evidence I’ve collected so far, and let you make up your own mind whether or not to help me?”

Daniel felt himself nod before he had even made a decision. “First, we should clean you up.”

He moved towards the sink in the corner of his room, more conscious than usual of his limp. He dampened a face towel and moved back towards Peggy, handing her a cloth and his shaving mirror. At her look, he shrugged.

“I thought you’d want to do it yourself.” Uncomfortable with the intensity of her gaze, he turned to move away, but Peggy’s gentle hand on his arm stopped him. He looked down at her questioningly.

“I’m trying to get better at accepting help,” she said quietly, offering him the washcloth. Daniel swallowed.

He took the cloth from her, their fingers brushing together as he did so. A familiar, long-buried heat stirred within him but he desperately attempted ignore it. Peggy didn’t,  couldn’t , return those feelings. They would just cause him pain.

Still, his breath quickened as he began gently wiping the blood from her face. Peggy watched him with unfathomable eyes, and Daniel wished he wasn’t so close to her. He suspected that she could see all his secrets laid bare and was judging his worthiness.

“Tell me about Stark,” he said, determined to distract them both.

So, she did. She explained how her old friend had come to her, asking for help. She told him about all the evidence she had found supporting his claim that he had been set up. And she told him about how her friend Jarvis had been kidnapped despite her best efforts to save him in an attempt to draw Stark out of hiding.

“I was hoping you might help me find Jarvis before Howard does something stupid and reveals himself,” Peggy eventually finished.

“You took a real risk telling me all this.” 

Peggy nodded slowly. “I’m aware. And I know that if you agree to help you will be risking a great deal as well. But I knew that if there was anyone else I had a chance in trusting that could help, it was you.”

Daniel gave a wry twist to his mouth, but couldn’t help the swell of pride bloom in his chest. “What do you need me for?” he asked, capitulating.

Peggy grinned. “ Well… ”

 


End file.
